Deregulators, Mount Up

It would seem that society has reached it's cultural and commercial denouement, we've crescendoed; oh how the mighty have shown no remorse. I suppose if I had a boat payment or a sixty-thousand-dollar car, I would be sweating right now. The path I'd taken to even consider those endeavors might be paved with the conquest of fiduciary worth and the transcendence of moral and emotional anchors. When you get to the mountaintop, it's just you, there isn't enough room for anyone else, and the minute another hand comes over that last ledge, you have to kick the person attached to it, just to maintain your tiny piece of real estate at the pinnacle. That is the nature of our deregulated systems and industries.

But things are promised to be on the mend, getting better is a constant, apparently. Only I'm seeing none of it. Oh I'm still delivering packages for companies like Brown Brothers Harriman, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley et al. But the quality of my life is seeing no improvement, the volume of work I depend on, is still in steady decline, and the manner with which I'm treated is still of the second-class, or no-class ilk.

In the wake of this BP disaster, I'm hearing calls from all over the globe, for more regulation, more accountability, more oversight, less lee-way. The fundamental problems of the state of society and commerce at present are friendships, cronyism, nepotism and plain old-fashioned egomania. You want more oversight, but you're going to get fraternity brothers hunting down college roommates, in-laws etc. The elite classes are in cahoots, not because of some great conspiracy, but because they move in the same social circles. They may not even want to do each other any favors, but at the risk of not being invited to some party, soiree or benefit and losing face in the world of business, one good favor deserves an endless well of unregulated favors. I work at an oil company, you run a commercial construction company, help me make my shareholders happy three weeks early by turning your back on crucial safety checks and tests. Just friends doing each other favors.

With this in mind, the time has come to question the tactics of other corporate entities. Many moons ago, before Fedex drop boxes and UPS stores, there were couriers, messengers, just plain people, with conveyances to carry them from place to place. Single moms driving their mini vans, weekend warriors in muscle cars, and kids (literally children, including Andrew Carnegie himself) on bicycles. Charged with time-sensitive, globally crucial materials these souls would trudge through every weather, through every hardship, holding up the pillars of society. In medieval times, these brave individuals would shave their heads, have messages tattooed on their scalps and regrow said hair, carrying secret messages between neighboring kingdoms in times of war. They carried the will and longing of those wishing to escape the iron curtain across enemy lines for the sake of freedom during the Cold War. Couriers have always been there when called, and we're still here. However, in the light of the revolutionizing of information technology, our jobs have been outsourced; not to other countries, but to faceless, corporate entities, with little regard for their own employees, never mind the cargo they escort. They overcharge to offer the convenience of a uniform, corporate charge accounts and never having to interact with the individual who is responsible for the packages' safe passage. This unregulated industry of giants in a world of hard-working people have too much power, to swallow up small business, devour the streets and based on daily conversations, mistreat their own employees. It is a sad state of affairs when we as a society can shut our eyes to injustice not only while sitting atop it, but while contributing to it daily.

So this is a proposal of a new green movement, away from giant delivery trucks that spew poison fumes into the air, away from 'brown shirt' uniforms of militaristic and inhuman, sterile banality, step out of the shadow of corporate irresponsibility and give your business some momentum. Call a courier, call two couriers, call them all, get a quote, say hello, have them deliver some same-day packages for you. You won't regret it, the knowledge of contributing to small business, keeping the little guy afloat, inspiring hope and adaptation is well worth the cost of an envelope. Ensure the safety and surety of the cargo you transport by sending it with a human being. Ask not what 'brown can do for you', ask what you can do for the underdog.